Hi language learners,
As an adult, on the other hand, learning a new language is definitely a different experience. It’s not all bad, though: there are some big advantages, too! Understanding how adults learn differently will help you stay aware of possible challenges, while taking advantage of the benefits of being an adult learner.
1. Lack of discipline to create time for your language lessons.
At this stage of your life you might not have afternoons free like you did as a child and young adult, I recommend blocking out times in your schedule that are distraction free and one hundred percent focused on language learning. Even if the chunks of time are short, consistent study will lead to noticeable progress, so keep it up!
2. Your tribal or native accent can pose as a big problem.
When children learn a new language, they naturally assimilate the unique sounds, inflection, and rhythm of the language. As adults, it can be harder to completely master the accent, as the foreign sounds can be challenging to assimilate completely since speech patterns are already set.
There’s good news, though: if you were exposed to the sounds of foreign languages as a child, that can be enough to make learning a new accent easier, as studies have shown that just exposure as children, even without speaking, can familiarize us with the sounds at a later date.
And even without that exposure, there are many ways your tutor can help you improve your accent if it doesn’t come naturally to you. Working with a language tutor — as opposed to relying on prerecorded courses, videos, and apps — is key, as you’ll get feedback and corrections as you’re speaking.
3. Lack of of time like you had back in school.
You may have counted down the minutes until the end of the school day, whereas now you dream of uninterrupted time for study and self-development as a working adult. The upside is that there are many opportunities for adults to pursue intensive, serious study, as well. You might even benefit more as a serious adult student than you did as an adolescent.
Examples of study you could undertake include Part time one on one coaching during time off of work, night classes, online group classes , and intensive private tutoring sessions, all of which can fit into the busiest of schedules. With these ideas, you’ll be learning your target language in leaps and bounds!
4. Fear of making mistakes.
A big difference between adults and kids is that the latter group is often unhampered to try new things, even if it means looking a little ridiculous and making errors. Adults can be intimated by trying new things, and making errors is frowned upon.
This can make it challenging to learn well, as an inherent part of language learning is to make mistakes and experiment! You can remain aware of this downfall and work to overcome fear of mistakes by staying open, having fun, and trying new things.
5. Vocabulary acquisition needs targeted practice.
As an adult, it’s often not enough to just rely on exposure to acquire and memorize new vocabulary. As you learn, you’ll need to make a targeted and concerted effort to memorize new vocabulary. Children and adolescents can often pick up new vocabulary simply through exposure and repetition; the advantage adults have is that they can choose to focus on specific vocabulary sets that interest them. These could be highly specific (i.e. Spanish vocabulary for healthcare) or general; either way, you’ll be learning exactly what you want to learn in no time.
6. Grammar won’t come naturally.
Children learning new languages often pick up sentence structure and other grammatical points simply by listening and interacting. Adults, on the other hand, may struggle with structures that are different in their native language. Because of this, grammatical exercises and dedicated study are usually necessary.
However, adults can use the grammar rules they already know and understand as a jumping off point for learning a new language’s grammar. This can be advantageous as well as an interesting exploration if you have an interest in how languages function. To sum it up, adults can often explain the “why” behind a usage in a language, while children can only execute the grammatical function without the capacity to explain.
Which one do you think resonates to you in your language learning, leave a comment below.
To your learning
of languages,
FrenchLadyDisi
Your Language Tutor.
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